Archive for the ‘community’ Category

Virtuoso is an Italian based word meaning versed, or skilled. We use it today to describe someone who is particularly skilled in a given field, like music!

The Virtuoso Series Concerts, hosted by the University Center for the Arts, has consistently presented talented musical artists who demonstrate beautiful melodies that allure and entertain audiences. These concerts occur on a regular basis and make for a great opportunity to enjoy a night out as well as appreciate the many various musicians featured.

If a sitter for the children is unavailable, consider taking them as well! With ticket prices for youth (2-17) at $1 a-piece, it would be less expensive to bring them along, not to mention the benefits of exposing young children to the arts. Overall, Virtuoso Series Concerts are great events for families!

The next concert is Thursday, November 5th, featuring Duo Francois (a piano and violin duo). Make sure to check the UCA website regularly for these amazing concerts.

Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor is the ‘unofficial’ theme song of Halloween, and though the name might not be familiar, those few opening notes are unmistakable. The 7th annual Halloween Organ Extravaganza couldn’t offer anything less than an amazing night of spooky organ music for all to hear, not to mention costumed musicians. Joel Bacon, a CSU organ professor and performer at the event, sums it up by saying, “It’s a shame Halloween only comes once a year.”

The Extravaganza will be held appropriately in the Organ Recital Hall at CSU’s University Center of the Arts on Halloween night at seven, nine, and eleven o’clock.

It’s a great opportunity to bring your children or friends, or just to enjoy a night of ghoulish music to celebrate the holiday and the end of National Arts and Humanities Month. Visit the University Center for the Arts website for more information.

The feeling of dancing with a partner whose identity is sealed behind a mask could be described as mysterious and exhilarating. The chance to partake in such an experience is this coming Saturday, October 27th, at The Wild Goose Masquerade Ball! Inhibitions are lowered when we are in disguise, so what a perfect opportunity to waltz, swing, tango, and polka your way to a delightfully elegant and wonderful evening. Live music will be provided by the 50-piece Mostly Strauss Orchestra, which will not only help set the mood for the ball, but offer for a most memorable experience.

The ball will be filled with costumed participants from the most exotic to the tastefully sophisticated; it is up to you what “look” you may focus on. Attire is formal, semi-formal, or ethnic. Friends of Traditional Dance is hosting this elegant event in the CSU Lory Student Center Main Ballroom at 7:30 p.m. For more information, please visit the website.

Imagine, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Harpsichord Concertos saturating the background during an evening amongst friends; the sophisticated classics offering a more mature environment for those feeling a little under-cultured and overwhelmed with contemporary hits on the radio. What could be better?

How about if those attending had the opportunity to indulge in some of New Belgium’s finest locally crafted brews? Presenting, “Bach and Beer,” an event hosted by The Fort Collins Symphony and, you heard right, New Belgium Brewery.

Listen to Bach while sipping beer with friends, and enjoy “Bach and Beer” on Friday, October 19th, starting at 6:00 p.m. at New Belgium Brewery. Please visit this website for more information.

Jennifer Angus’s exhibition “Memory Game” depicts an interconnected world of insects and humans. Angus’s work incorporates various patterns and beautifully organized arrangements of bugs that are displayed on the wall. The installation was partially inspired by the Ray and Charles Eames Memory Game the artist experiences in her childhood.

A wall full of bugs might not sound the most appealing to some, but Jennifer Angus redefines the nature and conception of insects in a precise and wonderful manner. Seeing this installation will not only surprise viewers, but also get them thinking about bugs and art in a new way.

In addition to the regular exhibition, CSU Professor of Entomology, Dr. Whitney Cranshaw, is presenting a gallery talk this Thursday, October 18th, at 6:30 p.m. on “Colorado’s Big Bugs.” This exhibition is currently featured in the Lincoln Center and will run through November 3rd. For more information, please visit this website.

Imaginative imagery illustrates a working mother juxtaposed by “two distinctly different worlds” who is “hoping to navigate them both successfully.” “Observations” by Assistant Professor of Studio Arts at Brigham Young University and mother, Sunny Belliston Taylor, explores these beautiful opposites in blissful complexity that makes you want to stare at each piece for hours. The endless layers, overlapping patterns, and visual texture contributes to an intimate setting in this wonderful, must-see collection of works.

“Observations” currently resides in the Clara Hatton Gallery in the CSU Visual Arts Building. As a free exhibition, there is no excuse to miss this event and is worth dodging the multitude of students on campus to get there. The show will run through November 16th.

Salsa dancing at the Rio has been a local tradition for folks looking to spice up their Tuesday night, and for those who haven’t attended one of these sessions, you’re missing out! Each session of Salsa dancing, hosted by The Rhythm Company, begins with a mini lesson, starting at 7:30 p.m., with some of the basics to help get participants dancing in no time.

The comfortable and fun atmosphere makes for an exciting night of dancing. You can bring a someone with you but there are usually plenty of willing partners to dance with if you come on your own.

After attending the mini lesson or if you are already an expert in Salsa, a DJ plays a variety of zesty melodies to dance to, from 8:00 to 10:30 p.m., so you can show off your new moves.

The Rhythm Company also hosts Swing dancing at Old Town Yoga every Saturday evening! For more information, please visit their website.

Frank Wedekind’s theatre performance, “Spring Awakening,” opens on October 4th. The performance captures the essence of teenage life in the early 20th century. The impudently direct content inspired avant-garde playwrights of future eras, and was subject to censorship for the first sixty-three years of production. The themes depicted in the performance— adolescence struggle, anxiety, and sexual awakening— are eerily familiar, even premiering a century prior, to modern times.

This performance, which first premiered in 1906, is being held in the University Center for the Arts in the Studio Theatre, starting October 4th at 7:30 p.m. “Spring Awakening” is part of the CSU Theatre Guest Artist Initiative with Denver Center Theatre’s Douglas Langworthy’s new translation.

The uncensored content in “Spring Awakening” is “R-rated.” Admission is for 18 years of age and up only. For more information, please visit their website.

October is National Arts and Humanities Month. The arts are a significant entity in our families, community, and hearts. Not only do the arts entertain us, they inspire us and make the world a brighter, more vibrant place. Art is a vast presence in our daily lives, and deserves the appreciation of its many supporters. Many of us are hobbyists, enthusiasts, or even artists, and we can agree that the arts play a unique role in shaping our community.

This month-long event gives us an excuse to add some extra events to our list of those to attend this month. However, celebrating doesn’t have to mean going to events. It can be as easy being a regular advocate by spreading general love of the arts to others, or even enjoying art related activities with your family, like listening to music, reading, dancing, or drawing. The degree and nature of our celebration is up to each individual, but regardless, let us take the time to commemorate and explore our arts culture in October.

This week we are celebrating Fort Collins native, DeWain Valentine. Valentine is a California artist who has built a reputation on his large, vibrant, polished cast-resin sculptures that have been exhibited across the nation at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Spectators of his work will be taken on a journey through minimalist forms that are both captivating and awe provoking, with high gloss and brilliant color.

Starting October 1st, Valentine will have his art on display at the Colorado State University Art Museum located in the University Center for the Arts, which happens to be the the old Fort Collins High School that DeWain attended. Also on October 1st, he will present a lecture about his process and his work starting at 5:00 p.m. in the Griffin Concert Hall. A reception will follow from 6:00- 8:00 p.m. For more information, please visit http://artmuseum.colostate.edu/.